Missouri tightens boating-while-intoxicated law

Saturday

Jun 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 28, 2008 at 12:54 AM

The governor has chosen July 3 at Lake of the Ozarks to sign the bill sponsored by a lake area representative that lowers the legal limit for boating while intoxicated on all lakes of the state and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Joyce L. Miller

The governor has chosen July 3 at Lake of the Ozarks to sign the bill sponsored by a lake area representative that lowers the legal limit for boating while intoxicated on all lakes of the state and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Gov. Matt Blunt has scheduled a visit to Lake of the Ozarks State Park on July 3 for the bill signing ceremony. The public is invited to attend the 5 p.m. ceremony at Pa He Tsi, located in the state park near Public Beach No. 2.

The legislation was sponsored by state Rep. Rodney Schad, R-Versailles. The bill will not go into effect until Aug. 28. When it does, the legal limit for BWI will drop from .10 to .08 blood alcohol content. That will make the legal limit on the lake the same as on the highways.

The legislation lowering the legal limit for boating while intoxicated bounced back and forth between the Missouri House and Senate during this year’s legislative session.

Its fate overcame one last hurdle in the final days of the session before being passed and sent to the governor.

In 2007, Schad filed a similar version of this session’s legislation. It went down to defeat when it made it to the floor of the House for debate.

The bill was a priority for the Missouri Water Patrol, whose leadership says the lower BAC level will help deter the number of boaters driving drunk on the state’s waterways.

Missouri consistently leads the nation in boating while intoxicated arrests, with the majority of those arrests made on Lake of the Ozarks. Under state law, the legal limit on water is .10 blood alcohol level compared to .08 on Missouri roads.

Despite an aggressive crackdown on BWIs and ongoing educational efforts to encourage designated drivers, alcohol use continues to be a major issue on Lake of the Ozarks.

Statistically, alcohol is estimated to be a contributing factor in more than 50 percent of fatalities and 30 percent of injuries related to boating activities that are caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol.

Based on prior year’s statistics, Water Patrol estimates that the average blood alcohol level among those taken into custody for BWI on Lake of the Ozarks runs about .14, four-tenths of a percent higher than the legal limit on water.

That means the average drunken boater could come off the water, get behind the wheel of a car and be nearly double the legal limit.

According to the Water Patrol, trying to estimate how many drinks a person can consume before being considered legally drunk depends on a number of factors.

Body weight, mass, gender, fluid levels and whether or not a person has eaten all play a role. Sun and physical activity associated with boating cause dehydration, so people drink more. If the drink of choice is alcohol, judgment and coordination can quickly become impaired.

There are also major differences that have to be taken into consideration when looking at boating as opposed to driving a motor vehicle.

Boats have no brakes or turn signals, there are no designated traffic lanes, signs or other markers to direct boaters like those found on highways.

With the exception of boaters who fall under the mandatory boater education law, there is no required testing or licensing.

So far this year, the Water Patrol has made 91 BWI arrests statewide. Of those, 74 have been on Lake of the Ozarks.